A mother is devastated after losing three children in a shack fire on Saturday in Wesbank, Cape Town.
It is not clear what caused the fire, but residents said the incident happened during load shedding.
“I have lost what I was living for. I lost the children I loved so much. I still don’t know what to do,” said the devastated mother, Elma Nyakena, as she broke down in tears.
Elma lost her children Leana (9), Luciana (4) and Bruce, who would have turned one next week.
Aunt Ilze Rondganger told Daily Sun that the fire left them heartbroken as it had claimed lives.
“We have lost clothes and all our belongings that we can replace. What about the mother who has lost three children in this fire? We are heartbroken, we are in pain,” she said.
Resident Letticia Mgxebe said she woke up to screams and noises as people were running to extinguish the fire.
“If it was not for the noises I could have also died inside my shack. We still don’t know what caused the fire but there was no electricity at the time,” she said.
Ilze said one of the male residents at their place saved the grandmother who was sleeping with the children. When he tried to save the children, he was burnt badly and is in hospital fighting for his life.
“He tried but he ended up being seriously burnt,” said Ilze.
Fire and Rescue spokesman Jermaine Carelse confirmed the incident.
“Three children aged 1, 4 and 9 died in a fire in Wesbank this morning, Saturday 2 July. The City’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 2:15am that there was a home on fire in Baxley Crescent. When they arrived on the scene, firefighters found several structures burning. A total of 24 firefighters managed to contain and extinguish the blaze just before 4am. During firefighting operations, the bodies of the children were discovered in one of the informal structures,” said Carelse.
